“Emídio”, the «life-piercer» grandfather that Sandro William Junqueira introduces us to

Show will pass through Odemira, Aljezur and Monchique

Emídio Gomes da Silva was a ceramist, did theater, illusionism, worked in the circus. He had a certain tendency towards art and 'cheating'. He was an «artist» who was «many things». Among them, the grandfather of Sandro William Junqueira, a writer who listened to his grandfather's stories until he realized that perhaps he too had «something of Emídio». And so a theater show was born.

The idea came about by chance. Thinking, writing and performing a show was far from Sandro's horizons.

One night, the writer was having dinner with his friend Giacomo Scalisi, one of the programmers of “Lavrar o Mar”, when he remembered to tell him the stories of Wolfgang Beltracchi, a German art forger, and his grandfather.

An article that Sandro William Junqueira had written a few days ago for the “Observador” was the catalyst for the conversation.

«I remembered telling this to Giacomo who, in the end, challenged me to write a text. At the time, I was very apprehensive because I hadn't done theater for a long time», says the writer who was one of the founders of the theater group “A Gaveta”, from Portimão.

But then, he confesses, there was “something” that made him move forward, give that “final yes”… albeit fearfully.

«Even after delivering the text, I was always hoping that Giacomo would say to me: look, it won’t work after all», he tells the Sul Informação.

The stories of this Emídio, who also gives name to the theater show that “unfolds” between the 40s and the 25th of April, were too fascinating to be kept in a drawer.

Many have their fair share of «unbelievable and extraordinary», admits Sandro. Not all of them are real – and those that are already have a “memory job”, as the author calls it.

Many of them were told to him by his grandmother Ermelinda, Emídio's wife, still alive, and who, in principle, is going to watch the show.

«My grandfather was a very curious guy, he was interested in everything. He got involved in magic, in illusionism, he worked in the circus. But he also did theatre, he loved cinema, reading and he was a big liar – a artist, as they called it in the family», says the grandson.

 

 

Among the various aptitudes, Sandro William Junqueira chooses one: deceiving others. Oh, and “women were also a strong point”.

On stage, in “Emídio”, there will only be his grandson Sandro. It will be a monologue of about an hour that goes to the roots of this maternal grandfather to also tell the story of an era.

«My grandfather was born in Casal de Botes, Aldeia da Boavista, Aljubarrota, Alcobaça. It's a very small village. My great-grandparents were very poor people and my grandfather was this person, who was born in a village and became a life-breaker», recalls Sandro, between laughs.

The writer well remembers a man who “was born out of his time” and with whom perhaps he did not always have that “paternal relationship” that many idealize between grandparents and grandchildren.

«During childhood and adolescence, I was with my grandparents once or twice a year, but I spent even more time with my grandmother», he says.

However, when he began to write and publish his first books, Sandro William Junqueira returned to that grandfather, realizing that, in the family, he was perhaps the one who «followed most in his footsteps», with a taste for reading the head.

«We spent a few days together, also because he came to live in Olhão», he recalls.

Giacomo Scalisi is largely responsible for this adventure by Sandro William Junqueira. In the show, which he helped design, he guarantees that fiction mixes with reality.

As for his friend Sandro's performance as an actor, Giacomo has nothing but praise.

«He did a great job. I knew he had a background linked to the theater, but it surprised me », he considers.

Those who want to watch it live have several opportunities: on the 15th and 16th of April at the Igreja da Misericórdia, in Odemira, at 21:00 and 17:00, respectively, on the 21st and 22nd in Monchique, at Monte da Lameira (21:00), and on the days 28 and 29 at Espaço +, in Aljezur, at 21 pm.

Tickets are here

 

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